'Cuban' rivals featured in flier from candidate in Miami congressional race

@PatriciaMazzei

In case any voter in Florida’s 26th Congressional District thought candidate Ed MacDougall was of Cuban descent, one of his latest campaign advertisements should clear things up.

The flier features photos of MacDougall’s four original Republican primary rivals, with a sentence or two about each one. What all the blurbs have in common: Each includes the word “Cuban.”

“Carlos Curbelo is the son of Cuban exiles.”

“David Rivera is an advocate for the Cuban Embargo...”

“Joe Martinez championed the creation of the Cuban Memorial...”

“Lorenzo Palomares wants to be a strong voice for tightening restrictions on our dealings with the Cuban Government.”

The other side of the flier shows MacDougall and lists four policy positions — “The MacDougall Plan” — without making any other mention of Cuba or U.S. policy toward the island.

MacDougall, who is the mayor of Cutler Bay, said the “Cuban” references merely repeat what each of his current or former opponents — Rivera has suspended his campaign — has played up on the campaign trail.

“Virtually everything I hear is that,” MacDougall said. “My feeling is that it is not about Cuba. It’s about America.”